The Senate held three votes on telecom immunity amendments this afternoon and a final vote on the FISA reform bill will take place later today. After all is said and done, the 9/10 Democrats will go along with the White House in protecting telecom companies from civil lawsuits related to their anti-terrorism cooperation with the... Read More

Which is it? And whither Obama?

Scroll for updates... I'm keeping an eye on the FISA debate that has been unfolding on the Senate floor. Sen. Orrin Hatch gave a spirited statement taking on the unreality-based FISA reform opponents who "sit in their basements wearing tinfoil hats and who believe 9/11 was an inside job." Zing. Sen. Jay Rockefeller is now... Read More

The House is now voting on the FISA reform deal. Moonbat callers on C-SPAN are going nuts over Democrat capitulation. I'll post the tally and roll call vote as soon as the yeas and nays are all counted. (Update: 12:51pm Eastern. "The bill is passed." Vote was 293-129.) Now, on to the Senate. The 9/10... Read More

It dawns on Attorney General Michael Mukasey: Jihad has no boundaries, no time limits, no end. Welcome to post-9/11 America: Put it on a bumper sticker. Or a tattoo. Pair it with this:

Just in, via CNN, it looks like the rare secret session in the House didn't persaude the Dems to support a permanent FISA fix that protects telecoms who cooperate w it the feds on counterterrorism: The House of Representatives voted Friday to back the Democratic-sponsored revisions to federal surveillance laws. After meeting in secret Thursday... Read More

In case you've forgotten, there still has been no permanent FISA fix thanks to obstructionist, dilly-dallying Democrats. Word on the Hill is that the GOP called for a rare secret session to discuss the matter. The NRCC is urging citizens to sign a petition pressuring the Dems to act: It was over three weeks ago... Read More

Update: Press conference transcript is here. *** President Bush has scheduled a press conference for 10:05am Eastern this morning to prod the Dems to pass permanent FISA reform. David Reinhard watches while Pelosi's House sleeps. The blabbermouth Dems want wider access to classifed info. Via The Hill: Liberal House Democrats are pushing for a closed... Read More

What a way to mark the 15th anniversary of the WTC bombing yesterday, huh? Via CQ Politics:

Everything you need to know about the 9/11 Democrats is here from Andy McCarthy. President Bush lambastes the Democrats on FISA again: President Bush on Monday lobbied again for an intelligence law allowing government eavesdropping on phone calls and e-mails, as the tone of the dispute between the White House and Congress over terrorist surveillance... Read More

Photoshop by reader John McG., 6/2006. You may recall in December 2005 when the blabbermouths at the NYTimes revealed a classified program set up by the Bush administration monitor terrorist communications in the US (which inspired an entire gallery of media blabbermouth posters like the one above). The ACLU quickly and literally followed suit to... Read More

Update 10:35am Feb. 16. This is the president's radio address this morning. Maybe Nancy Pelosi will read it on her Blackberry during her social appointments this weekend. RADIO ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATION THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. At the stroke of midnight tonight, a vital intelligence law that is helping protect our nation... Read More

Update 3:20pm Eastern. Ed Morrissey reports on a House GOP walkout. *** Can the Beltway still be living in a September 10 world? I've kept you updated on the latest FISA shenanigans by Democrats who would rather let the nation's surveillance laws lapse to benefit their presidential candidates than agree to a permanent fix. Andy... Read More

Scroll down for updates... It is good to see President Bush and the Republicans standing their ground and reaffirming that there are still differences left between the two major political parties. In the wake of the Senate Dems' retreat on FISA, Bush is pressuring House Democrats to send him a permanent FISA fix--not the same,... Read More

Scroll down for updates... I've been keeping you up-to-date on the FISA fight in the Senate (see here and here). This morning, a series of votes took place and you'll be happy to know that the defeatist Dems were defeated. Carter Wood at the NAM's ShopFloor blog sums up the votes: The Senate Roll Coll... Read More

Scroll down for updates...4:44pm Eastern - cloture vote is underway...4:54pm Eastern...as anticipated by the nutroots, both Clinton and Obama have voted no on cloture (e.g., voted to block press on the Rockefeller-Bond FISA reform bill)...5:12pm Eastern. Motion is not agreed to. Vote is 48-45....McConnell's on the floor, next vote is on the 30-day extension...urging a... Read More

Update 6:00pm Eastern. DJN: "Lawmakers in the Senate defeated an initial attempt Thursday to strip immunity for telecommunications companies out of a bill reauthorizing the federal government's warrantless wiretapping program. Senators approved a motion to table an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would have removed the immunity provision in the bill. The... Read More

Incompetence, as we have seen time again over the course of the Bush administration's botched handling of border security, immigration enforcement, and TSA policies, knows no partisan bounds. And it isn't limited to DHS or TSA. The latest results of a Justice Department audit reveal that FBI wiretaps--including one involving a suspected terrorists were cut... Read More

Update 9:30pm Eastern. This isn't getting much attention outside of the lefty blogs, but tonight Harry Reid withdrew the FISA overhaul bill after Kos champion Chris Dodd threatened to filibuster it over telecom immunity provisions. The bill has bipartisan support. It is now tabled until next month. More details: Facing divisions among Senate Democrats, Majority... Read More

Update: Andy McCarthy points to signs of a new Senate FISA deal. *** Question of the night comes from Paul Mirengoff at Power Line in the wake of the Democrats' withdrawal of their flawed FISA obstruction legislation: USA Today reports: Republicans successfully maneuvered to derail a Democratic government eavesdropping bill Wednesday, delaying a House vote... Read More

While the lawyers diddled and fiddled, American soldiers' lives were endangered. The NYPost has the exclusive: Nine hours and 38 minutes. That's how long it took to has

Update 1:13am Eastern. House is adjourned until Sept. 4. Update 12:55am Eastern. Final vote on defense dept. FY 2008 spending bill now taking place. The bill passes. Update 12:08am Eastern 8/5. You can go here for the House clerk's log of floor proceedings. *** If you're a fellow C-SPAN geek like me, you're watching the... Read More

Glenn and Helen interview Judge Richard Posner on the constitution, national emergencies, terrorism, privacy, surveillance, FISA courts, espionage, and civil libertarians in denial. A snippet: "I think, you know, we need some fresh thinking. There's a tendency of civil libertarians to kind of repeat tired formulas. It's a kind of nostalgia for the old days.... Read More

Debra Burlingame speaks for me: We now have the ability to put remote control cameras on the surface of Mars. Why should we allow enemies to annihilate us simply because we lack the clarity or resolve to strike a reasonable balance between a healthy skepticism of government power and the need to take proactive measures... Read More